Benin

It probably has the minimum number it can in theory get away with...The basic pole design also means less stability and means that the stresses and strains don't have to do much effort against it... Hence why most supports are A-Frames or Triangular in nature, as those as the best type against high levels of stress...Also, more stress is acting on the supports because of the load not being distributed as much as it probably should be... One or two extra supports would make a world of difference...[/Making my Engineering Degree Worthwhile]

It will be very different from Saw...The actual theming of the area, and the fact that the ride will actually be worth the wait...

Oh Fury... That ride has been such a burden to the park...At this rate the park won't have any major coaster to talk of...

Taking insipration from the London riots it seems...

A variant of Thirteen would have been perfect for Chessie...Another problem is the lack of income the park apparently seems to be making in comparison to the others... Even though Chessie got a lot more through the gates than Thorpe (somehow, I'm still confused over that) the only addition this year is a very low budget, minimal area retheme (which probably won't incorporate Berries or Toadies)... So the question must be why?It's no secret that I would love the park to get a Gerstlauer Launched coaster like Anubis at Plopsaland or Lynet at Farup (or perhaps a Maurer one instead)... But on the other hand their capacity isn't great so would just be to the same scale as Fury for throughputs... But what else is there with a throughput around 700+ that would fit into Chessie?And for flats? Well I'd love for them to get a Vekoma Madhouse cos those can eat through queues brilliantly, but again aside from that I can think of few alternatives that would properly suit the park's market and area... A big issue is the lack of any decent throughput rides for the support rides, especially the main kids attractions (Berries, Trucks, Jumbos, Toadies), so perhaps a view to removing these (especially Trucks, I would help with that myself) and replacing them with rides with decent throughputs (Hello Mack) would be a start for the park...Thrill rides are difficult for Chessie ever since Tussauds took Samurai down the road and went into the kids market with the park... Of course now with the new branding there's a potential for something, but again what? I struggle to think what massive thrill ride could exist in Chessie's world that would be reliable and able to fit in seemlessly...It would be interesting if they DID move Trail of the Kings in the end, if they moved the SeaLions as well, that could be a nice big area for some Alpine themed area to link with Translyvania and hold a mini-Expedition Everest... One can dream...

Where the safari trail will be cannot be used for rides anyways... Unfortunately the case with Belted land...

Some arty photos have appeared on EP's Facebook...Rest are here - http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150521977606440.370826.112674281439&type=1

^Depends how the metal for the track has been created, I'm not sure on what the track manufacturers actually do, but oxidising the metal after forming it for example would prevent rust without the need for painting...Of course painting will help to a degree, but it's not that important when there are several methods to treat the metal components pre-painting to prevent rust...

Nah it's ok, I'm happy staying at uni avoiding the crushing crowds of sweaty enthusiasts and potentially under-prepared staff to go on a less busy day...

That is a good call... Basically all of Trail of the Kings is up there... Rather weird and random thing indeed...

Like Monkey Kingdom last year, this looks like it could be a good addition to the zoo...The park on the other hand, needs more, but yay Giraffes!

Disney don't theme their ground? Oh they most certainly do, with various things like paw or leaf prints in Adventureland or Animal Kingdom, to even tyre treads in a few other sections...Rest of the post is sound though... It's not exactly something that I care much about since I'd rather be looking at the big grey B&M than some floor bricks...

Think you're the one who should be careful what you say, because I left for educational prospects mis-season, so was never going to return... So I'd stop listening to certain people have to say about me, because otherwise you make yourself look stupid because you don't know what you're talking about...Either way, in my opinion, they were over the top with their interaction, and ended up not dispatching a car attempting to force me to interact when I didn't want to... Harrassing guests is wrong especially at the impact of reducing throughput... That isn't the route the park should be taking...

Lego Lord of the Rings you say?

^2010 was a fab year, 2011.... Not so much...There is a fine line, but to not dispatch a car because of the guests not wanting to 'flap your dragon wings', is just stupidity... Especially after an hour in Fury's burdenous shadeless queue... Incidents like that make me wonder if they're going toooooo far on the interactive side...Then again, when I worked there, I made as little effort to talk to guests as possible on Fury and Vampire, because there's just some rides and times when you just cannot be expected to interact on the scale that the management seem to expect...In regards to enthusiasts working there, you will always get a mix of them, from the really good ones, to those who are really high and mighty because they are an enthusiast and hence know EVERYTHING...It's a fine, fine line tbh... But then again I think throughputs should be the most important aspect of the rides teams, and interaction for those departments with a larger face to face time with guests...

Does the pavement style REALLY matter when there's a 100+ft B&M soaring over us?I think I know which will grab the attention more...

Funny how the people who dislike the place all got fired ;)Although tbh now, it seems like there's too much focus on interaction and learning life stories than putting people on the ride, resulting in some of the most cringe-worthy guest interaction I've seen at the expense of not dispatching a Fury car...Plus the ride staff seem useless at life, and this is from an external point of view... Dread to think what it's like on the inside

^I much prefer TTD's support design to Stealth's, makes it look a LOT taller when you're stood right under it...But that lift hill is just... MADE OF WHY...

Well isn't this interesting...

Track doesn't NEED to be repainted for engineering reasons, it IS entirely cosmetic...BUT, let's look at Oblivion, it is currently grey, it's meant to be black... Colossus, is seemingly always covered in oil on the lift hill... And the less said about Vampire the better...Thing is, maintaining APPEARANCES is just as important to a theme park as maintaining the rides from a technical standpoint, the difference between a freshly painted ride and one that hasn't been touched for 10 years is massive, and people will notice... Sure it won't bring in new people, BUT it could easily entice the customers to either come back, or tell their friends about the brilliant, clean, and fun experience they had... Cosmetics are a huge part of a theme park, as people more readily notice something that looks shoddy, preventing this means that guests will feel a better atmosphere and follow the escapism (cue blah blah Thorpe is a thrill park it doesn't need to do this)... If that is the case then why do Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks repaint their rides every so often?I don't see how it's not realistic to imagine that a company that constantly bleats on about being second to Disney (a company which does ensure constant appearance upkeep in its parks) won't do it... HAJiME hits the nail on the head really... And if smaller parks can afford to repaint their rides in these 'hard economic times', then why can't Merlin?

It's something that the UK parks really lack in is maintaining the rides to the same standards, especially in comparison to everywhere else...No idea why repaints aren't done here so regularly... It makes a world of difference, especially when your lift hill is covered in oil...

That wingspan thing is for a Condor [/pedant] ;)Nice to know nothing's changed so I don't have to bother... Monkey Kingdom would have made a WORLD of difference to the zoo side...Oh and my name's still there... Win... Moved about much though...

OMG THIS PARK STILL EXISTS?!And perhaps adding the Southern version of Raptor Attack?

Jaws is FAB, silly Nicky...